College

Wolcott's Murphy turns into leader for Western BY ROGER CLEAVELANDRepublican-American

It's a mystery, really. No one is quite sure what sparked the drastic transformation within Wolcott's Carly Murphy, but the improvement has been impressive.

After struggling to earn playing time the first half of her college career at Western Connecticut, Murphy has made it very difficult for Coach Kim Rybczyk to take her off the court her final two seasons.

As the Colonials won the Little East Conference and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament during Murphy's freshman season, she was deemed such a defensive liability that she averaged only 12.1 minutes for an eight-man team begging for depth.

And as the team gained depth her sophomore year, Murphy's minutes dropped to 9.7 per game.

"I love telling her story because she didn't get off the bench for two years but was determined, stuck with it, kept getting after it, and when she came back as a junior, she was just a kid you could not take off the floor," Rybczyk said. "It just took her a while to understand defense and that she could actually be good at it. Now she is one of the best defenders in our program."

Murphy admits it was a very difficult, frustrating process.

"At first, I constantly put my head down," Murphy said. "I lost all confidence my freshman year and sophomore years. But at the same time, I knew it was only constructive criticism and she was only trying to make me a better player because she is on top of the kids she knows will do well. I took that as a compliment and inspiration to turn my game around."

Rybczyk wasn't sure Murphy would return for her junior season after the disappointment of her first two. Murphy said there was never any doubt.

"I love my team and this program," Murphy said. "I didn't want to leave, because I made some really special relationships. It was definitely tough, but I just had to stick it out. I knew good things would come eventually."

And so they have. This season the senior co-captain is arguably the Pioneers best overall player. She leads the team in scoring (12.0 ppg), is second in rebounding (5.4 rpg) and third in total assists (54).

Last week she scored 18 points with 11 rebounds as the Western (15-5) handed previously undefeated and No. 13 nationally ranked Southern Maine.

"She is such a real key for everything that we are doing," Rybczyk said. "She is the nuts and bolts. You can put her anywhere, and she is going to get it done because she is very bright. She is obviously in her comfort zone at shooting guard and will bring the ball up the court if we need it, but this year we have asked her to play a lot of power forward at 5-foot-9.

"Her toughness stands out physically and mentally. She is an amazing kid."

Murphy's perseverance triggered her turnaround as she went from averaging 2.8 points and 1.5 rebounds as a sophomore to 10.4 points and 6.9 rebounds last year. Her playing time jumped from 9.7 minutes per game to 25.8 last year, and up to 29.0 this year.

She said something just finally clicked inside of her regarding defensive concepts after two years of listening to coaches and watching the team's better defenders.

"It just takes a lot of hard work," Murphy said. "I put my heart into it every day, because I knew I wanted to stay here. There was no way I was going to leave, and I wanted to get on the floor."

Murphy has improved so much that a few weeks ago, Rybczyk asked her to take over a film session, breaking down team an individual flaws and explaining how to correct them.

"She used to kind of just agree with you because she is such a nice kid," Rybczyk said. "This year she just stepped it up a level. The improvement in her maturity from last year to this year is absolutely remarkable. Her comments, her thought process, the things she says to her teammates … it is all well thought out and straight on. She nails it."

During bad practices, Muprhy's voice is the one that can consistently be heard encouraging teammates to turn things around. She knows that if you push a little harder and focus a little better, good things start happening.

If there is any mystery left to Murphy's game now, Rybczyk said, it is merely the question of how she will be replaced after this season.

"I always knew she could put the ball in the basket," Rybczyk said. "That is why we recruited her. She is one of the very few kids I have ever recruited at this level who can create her own shot. She can shoot the three or get to the hole. She can stop and pop. And now with all of that, she has become a great defender. She's a great kid, and a great story."

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